French Pat. No. 2 593 686 describes a stackable chair of this type. In this prior chair, the legs in each pair converge upwardly and are rigidly interconnected by a top tie in a stackable configuration. In addition, each arm rest resting on the corresponding tie is fixed thereto in removeable manner and is connected to the back by a hinge axis which is situated above the arm rest in question at a distance above the back-and-seat hinge axis which is chosen relative to the distance between said back-and-seat hinge axis and the front end of the above-mentioned corresponding tie, so that the rear end of the arm rest in question is capable of going past the front end of said tie when the back is folded onto the seat.
In addition, each arm rest contains a rack co-operating with a finger on the corresponding tie, which finger is held captive in the arm rest over its entire adjustment stroke for adjusting the tilt of the back, said arm rest having a bottom opening situated at the rear of the rack in order to allow the finger to escape when said arm rest is raised for the purpose of folding down the back.
Thus, prior to stacking, the arm rests are moved forwards, thereby tilting the back forwardly, after which the rests are raised and moved forwards in order to escape from the racks, after which they continue past the pairs of legs, thereby folding the back down onto the seat and simultaneously bringing the rear portions of the arm rests into abutment against said seat.
A drawback of this prior chair is that it occupies a relatively large amount of space when stacked since, in the folded position, the arm rests project a considerable distance from the remainder of the folded chair, i.e. the legs, the seat, and the back folded down on the seat. As a result, the packing density of trucks or other vehicles is limited, thereby increasing transport costs. Another result is that more room is required for storing stacks of chairs on user premises.
Another drawback of this prior chair is that the arm rests projecting beyond the stack of chairs are exposed and run the risk of being broken.
Another drawback of this prior chair is that said rear portion for raising the hinge axis connecting each arm rest to the back is unusual in appearance and seems not to appeal to customers.
British Pat. No. 1 404 527 also describes a stackable chair in which the back may be folded down onto the seat and in which the arm rests may be retracted.
In this other prior chair, each arm rest is connected to the back by a kind of universal joint disposed in front of the back. A horizontal axis of this universal joint allows the corresponding arm rest to be raised while a vertical axis of said joint allows a raised arm rest to be folded across the front of the back. When the arm rests are in this position, the back can be folded down onto the seat and stacking can take place.
The advantage of this other prior chair over the previously-described chair is that the arm rests do not project forwardly from the remainder of the chair when the back is folded down onto the seat. The packing density therefore appears to be improved.
However, stacking is poor and in any event unstable and relatively bulky since the arm rests occupy space between the back and the seat of each chair, thereby preventing the back from being folded right down since it abuts against the interposed arm rests.
The object of the present invention is to remedy the above drawbacks of these two prior chairs while retaining their advantages.
The invention also seeks to make it possible for the chair to be made of plastics material using a small number of components, and thus a small number of molds, and for it to be suitable for assembling easily and quickly without special skills and using a very small number of connecting shafts. This leads to low cost price and means that it can be sold through chain stores.